Eric Chelle must be retained as Super Eagles head coach.
Despite football being much more about how far rather than how well, the Nigerian Football Federation can not turn a blind eye to what the Super Eagles team looked like under Eric Chelle, because, when have they been that good?
Amid the criticism by some Nigerians, who are calling for his sacking after falling short of Jose Peseiro’s second-place finish in the previous AFCON tournament, the numbers tell a different story, and as they say, numbers don’t lie.
Eric Chelle may not have led Nigeria to the title, but from the kickoff of their first game against Tanzania to the penalty shootout win over Egypt in the third-place match, there was so much swagger about the Super Eagles, the ember that had been lacking for more than a while.
Eric Chelle has restored belief
Much of the criticism of Eric Chelle is tied to his failure to lead Nigeria to the FIFA World Cup, a shortcoming that’ll see the country miss back-to-back finals for the first time since their debut appearance in 1994.
In truth, the Franco-Malian was given an almost lost cause, because after recording three points from their opening four games of the qualifiers under previous coaches, the absence already become inevitable, but the torment was prolonged due to some technicalities.
Eric Chelle managed to win four and draw two in the remaining six games, beat Gabon in the semi-finals of the CAF playoff before losing the chance to represent Africa in the conventional playoffs after a penalty shootout loss to DR Congo in the final match.
The team went on to suffer multiple setbacks ahead of the AFCON, with promising defender Benjamin Fredrick suffering an injury that ruled him out, while former captain William Troost-Ekong retired from international duties just before the tournament kicked off.
Despite this, the Super Eagles did not concede a single goal in the knockout stages and stand alone as the only team to keep four clean sheets in the knockout stage.
They never looked like losing in any of their games, except against Morocco, where they were obviously caged due to poor officiating, and other gimmicks employed by the host to put them off their game. Yet, they remained resilient until the penalty shootout heartbreak.
What do the numbers say?
“The most impressive team in the AFCON for me was Nigeria. Nigeria plays good football, the goals they were scoring, the players they had, they played such wonderful games.” — Yaya Toure.
According to FotMob, Nigeria is the highest-rated team in the 2025 AFCON tournament with an average rating of 7.29. Champions Senegal are second on this metric, and could only register 7.19.
They amassed 13.1 xG, the most of any team in the tournament. Their four clean sheets are only bettered by Senegal and Morocco, who are both tied on five, while only Senegal, 7.7, attempted more shots on target per match than their 5.9.
Nigeria created 27 big chances, at least three more than any other team. Only Morocco, 201, has more touches in the opposition box than their 198, and they conceded the fewest xG of all four teams that reached the semi-finals, 4.0.
They played with high intensity, won second most possession in the final third per game with 5.0, behind only Equatorial Guinea, 6.0, who didn’t even go past the group stages.
Nigeria faced just 12 shots on target, the joint fewest, alongside Morocco. Their aggressive style also saw them concede more fouls than any other team, while they were tied on most bookings with champions Senegal, 17, but they maintained discipline to avoid a red card.
The Super Eagles scored 14 goals, an average of two per game, the most of any team in the tournament, while it also ranks as Nigeria’s most in a single AFCON outing, and it is just two behind the all-time record of 16, set by the Ivory Coast in 2008.
Super Eagles are also the only team not to trail in the AFCON tournament. In fact, since the appointment of Eric Chelle, the team has trailed for just 15 minutes, when Troost-Ekong’s 25th-minute own goal gave South Africa a 1-0 lead before Calvin Bassey’s 40th-minute leveler back in September.
This means the Super Eagles have not trailed to a goal scored by an opposition player in all 13 games since the appointment of Eric Chelle.
Nevertheless, this isn’t the best thing about his reign. It is how assured they are in possession, the beautiful football they play, and the scouting of new stars for the team that has made him own the job.
If it is true that the best do not always emerge, then Nigeria was the best team at AFCON 2025, and Eric Chelle may not have bettered Jose Peseiro’s silver medal, he revived a lesson that not all that glitters is gold.
His team was much better than that of Jose Peseiro. If is unfortunate that Nigeria will not be at the next World Cup, but the decision to appoint Eric Chelle could prove to be the best the NFF has made in a while.
Why the NFF must keep Eric Chelle?
The signs of improvement can be seen in the team. The players are happy to continue under his guidance and the manner in which he handled the team feud (Osimhen vs Lookman) during the tournament has to be praised.
The showing at the AFCON has also seen the team move 12 places up in the latest FIFA Ranking, moving to 26th in the world and third in Africa, the former of which is the highest placement since 2010.
Nigeria has a competitive team and has youths lined up to take the places of the ageing Eagles. Eric Chelle has proven himself as a man capable of leading, and if the system has no fault, why repair it?
Why critics want Eric Chelle sacked as Super Eagles coach?
Eric Chelle is not a fan of the paparazzi that the Nigerian journalists and content creators love to have whenever the group comes together for international duties, and has never made a secret of this.
This fact has seen him without many fans in that department, and the agenda to get him off the job has its source from there. With his tactical brilliance, he has given them a little room for maneuver, although certain failures have made them bolder.
Notwithstanding, this is a mistake the NFF does not want to make, especially with another AFCON tournament coming up in 2027.
Keeping Eric Chelle around and giving him the licence to continue to do him will help the Super Eagles get back on their feet, and with consistency, they can again go out for tournaments, and the sight alone will be a force to reckon with, not only in Africa, but globally.
Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
